Monday I showed off some of my pictures
of Quebec City back in 2004. The day we
were visiting happened to be July 1st, Canada Day. Canada Day (formerly Dominion Day) is the celebration
of the enactment of the British North America Act in 1867. This act combined the British Colonies of New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Province of Canada (including what are now
Quebec, Ontario, and the western provinces and territories) into a united
country. Newfoundland and Prince Edward
Island were added later.
In the province of Quebec that unity is
still controversial and Canada Day draws demonstrations. There are a number of groups, political and
otherwise, in Quebec that advocate a number of governance scenarios, from complete
independence to sovereign association to keeping the status quo. I’m not going to get into the issues here, I
just wanted to show some of the protests I saw on Canada Day in 2004.
Nikon D1x, Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 70mm, ISO 125, 1/320 @ f/9
As we came around the corner we
encountered a large group of pro-independence protesters. The protesters were noisy but not violent and
included men, women and Children of various ages.
Nikon D1x, Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 135mm, ISO 125, 1/250 @ f/9
The protesters were surrounded by police
but as you can see the police were not decked out in riot gear and did not
appear to be interfering with the protest in any way.
Nikon D1x, Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 135mm, ISO 125, 1/160 @ f/9
This picture shows a, seemingly, more militant
protester. He wears an armband with the
initials (MLNQ) of a radical separatist group.
Again, the protest was completely non-violent.
Nikon D1x, Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 36mm, ISO 125, 1/250 @ f/9
In an interesting juxtaposition, a
Canadian Armed Forces Band came down the street. The police slowly moved the demonstrators
away for the road and as the band passed, the music blended with the cacophony of
protest from the demonstrators.
People here in the U.S. tend to forget
that we are not the only nation with a long and glorious history of free speech
and protest against and in favor of our governments.
Come back for a “cute” Quebec photo on “Photo
Friday.”
© 2009 Tim Marks all rights reserved